2. amps-preamps
  3. 126729-70778

Why warm amps sound better.

Ok, I just turned on my system for the weekend after about 3 days turned off. 
The opening guitar of UFO's Obsession just seemed tinny, edgy.

i know warmed up amps /preamps do sound better, the capacitors are warmed up and sound their best........why?

i had left my stereo on for about 2 days last weekend, and after 24 hours, I was just sitting having a beer, relaxing listening to Metal Church, and noticed my eyes drifting closed, I was not tired, but relaxing, my wife put on her fav cd, Def Leppard's hysteria, the sound was very good, much better than a cold start/listening session.  The guitar tone was full of emotion, soul, just seemed to flow from the speakers to my ears in a magical telepathic way :) I know this is boring, jus stick it out, will ya?

im not going to plug my gear, I just was curious why when amps get nice and toasty, they can sound completely different, almost realistic, with a sound of rapture. 

Its a night and day difference between cold start, and leaving on for a couple days, it's really a huge difference in sound. 

Why do warm capacitors sound so different from cold ones. 
I have tried this with my preamp/amps/cd player. Each one started cold on a different day while the other components were left on.  Each time the sound was harsh, not bad, but noticeable. The amps being cold was the biggest sound change. Followed by the CD player. 

Please explain, I need to kick the volume up a few db's. Thank you
128x128arcticdeth
emailists
923 posts
 
To add my 2 cents. When I was a kid we left my friend’s Fender Champ guitar amp in the trunk of my hot car for a few hours.

when we plugged it in it sounded better than it ever had.

The BHK 300 amps (dealer alert) have a solid state section meant to stay on all the time and the tube input section is what gets turned on when the front power switch is engaged.

i have even noticed it takes my strain guage phono cart takes some time to warm up and sound better.

cdrc
49 posts
 
Much to what many people believe, SS amps require more warming up than tube amps.  Some SS amps require 2-3 days to yield their full potential.  Additionally,, many amps are never afforded the opportunity to fully break in when purchased new.   First let your system settle in for no less than 1000 hours, then use the mini break in for a few days and never let your system lay idle for over week.  Breaking in is vitally important for your system to find its least resistant grounding path and, believe it or not, this takes lots of time.  When burning in your system, it is not necessary to play music loudly with heavy rock.  Simple classical music at low levels is sufficient but continuous pink noise also works magically.  Play nothing at all and just leave your sytem on to let your grounding system establish itself.  Grounding is something many audiophiles miss or not pay enough attention to robbing and limiting the full potential of one's system.
p59teitel
312 posts
 
My SS amps are left on all the time except during vacations, as they need to be on at least 24 hours to sound their best.  I leave my digital source gear on as well.  OTOH, my tubed pre warms up in only about 5 minutes, and so that gets turned on and off. 
wspohn's avatar
wspohn
604 posts
 
My Class A amps warm up very quickly - maybe 30 minutes, after which they don't change sound.  Which is a good thing considering that this sort of amp uses full current at idle and puts it out as heat (they actually put out less heat when making sound and converting some of that idle current to move the speaker drivers)
More to discover